UN Adopts North Korean Sanctions

A UN Security Council session (file photo) (CTK)
July 16, 2006 -- All 15 members of the UN Security Council have voted in favor of imposing sanctions on North Korea following recent missile tests.

The resolution demands UN members bar exports of missile-related materials to North Korea and that it halt its missile program.

The North Korean ambassador to the UN said his country "totally rejects" the resolution.

Ambassador Pak Gil Yon told the council following the vote that the measure had the "despicable aim" of isolating and putting pressure on his government.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry today called the resolution "a product of U.S. hostility" toward Pyongyang.

In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, the ministry said North Korea will not feel bound to the resolution "in the least."

Until the end, the council was split over whether the resolution would be adopted under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which makes it mandatory and allows for military force if another specific resolution is adopted.